The Cynical Cinephiles

Director: Sean Anders Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Isabela Moner, Margo Martindale, Julie Hagerty, Octavia Spencer, Tig Notaro From the same team that brought you Daddy's Home and its sequel Daddy's Home 2 comes Instant Family ; the themes of dysfunctional families and the hazards of parenting run through all of Anders' aforementioned work but Instant Family draws from the director's own experiences of fostering children in this cloying and comedic flick. Married couple Pete (Wahlberg) and Ellie (Byrne) Wagner start to consider adopting a child, prompted by snide comments made by Ellie's family. After attending an adoption fair, they find themselves taken with headstrong teenager Lizzie (Moner) and choose to foster her and her two younger siblings, changing the couple's lives in all of the best and most chaotic ways. Having found success in home renovation and cultivated a comfortable lifestyle, Pete and Ellie are inspired by the realms of children o...

Director: Barry Jenkins Cast: Kiki Layne, Stephen James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Brian Tyree Henry, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach After 2016's heartbreakingly artistic Best Picture winner Moonlight , Barry Jenkins returns to cinema with  If Beale Street Could Talk, adapting James Baldwin's novel of the same name into a lusciously captured and entirely unmissable love story. Having been friends since childhood, Tish (Layne) and Fonny (James) become a loving and devoted couple that dream of planning their future together. However, Fonny is arrested for a crime he didn't commit and Tish, with her family's support, fights to clear his name and have him acquitted before the birth of their child. If Beale Street Could Talk is a richly layered piece of work, brimming with atmosphere thanks to the stunning cinematography, with Jenkins flexing his emotional and visual artistry to new heights. The audience are voyeurs and intimate witnesses to Tish and Fonny's lov...

Director: Peter Farrelly Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini Having made his fame and fortune with writing and directing broad and crude comedies such as There's Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber , Peter Farrelly has turned his hand to drama with the awards contender Green Book , a film based on a true story with themes of acceptance and triumph in the face of intolerance. African-American acclaimed pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) is about to embark upon a musical tour in the Deep South in 1962. Needing a driver and someone to protect him, Shirley employs Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Mortensen), a quick-tempered Italian-American from the Bronx. Over the course of their time together, they develop a surprising bond and mutual admiration for one another as they confront the dangers of racial segregation that they encounter on their journeys. At the forefront of the film is the burgeoning friendship that develops between Tony and Dr. Shirley, ...

Director: Marielle Heller Cast: Melissa McCarthy, Richard E. Grant Nobody can resist a story based on true events, especially Hollywood. However, not all have to be grand and large-scale real-life accounts, proven by Can You Ever Forgive Me? Adapted from writer Lee Israel's memoir/confessional, the film is an intimate character study of a complicated woman experiencing the most unbelievable and exhilarating time in her life. In early 1990s New York, Lee Israel's (McCarthy) writing career is flailing and her biographies on famous women, such as Estee Lauder, end up in the discount section. She sells a prized letter written by comedienne Fanny Bryce as a quick cash-fix but is told that she could much more money for letters with more interesting content. This inspired Lee to become a forger of literary letters and the results are beyond anything that she could have imagined. Melissa McCarthy is well-known for her work in broad comedies such as Bridesmaids and Spy , and whi...

Director: Peter Segal Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Leah Remini, Vanessa Hudgens, Treat Williams, Milo Ventimiglia Romantic comedies used to be considered a dying breed but over the last couple of years, the genre has witnessed a resurgence with films like The Big Sick  (2017), I Feel Pretty (2018) and a host of Netflix originals such as All the Boys I've Loved Before and Set it Up (both 2018). This year's contribution to the revival is Second Act , a film with echoes of Working Girl and Jennifer Lopez's very own Maid in Manhattan -  but does it establish its own identity and forge a new rom-com classic? On her 40th birthday, Maya (Lopez) is denied the opportunity to become the manager of a superstore where she has been working for 15 years because she does not have a college degree. To improve her career prospects, her godson creates Maya a fake social media presence and applies for a cosmopolitan job as a consultant at a skin care company in her name. After impressing the bo...

Director: Wash Westmoreland Cast: Keira Knightley, Dominic West, Eleanor Tomlinson, Denise Gough, Aiysha Hart Based on the most famous female French literary writer of the 20th century, Colette tells the story of a woman whose voice is quashed, merely on the basis of her sex, but defies all societal and gender conventions to have her words be heard - and it's a story that resonates to this day. After marrying charismatic novelist Willy (West) and moving to Paris, Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Knightley), later known simply as Colette agrees to ghost-write a series of semi-autobiographical noels. They soon become the toast of Paris but Colette and Willy's unorthodox marriage is tested as Willy places greater demands on Colette and she requests rightful authorship over her work. Keira Knightley is no stranger to roles that require her to don a corset or other variations of a period costume but with Colette, she treads new ground and gives one of the most measured performances...

Director: M. Night Shyamalan Cast: James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sarah Paulson, Samuel L. Jackson Celebrated (and admonished) for his films that boast shocking twists, M. Night Shyamalan pulled off his biggest one to date in the final moments of 2016's Split  when he revealed that Kevin Wendell Crumb exists in the same universe as the characters from Unbreakable (2000). Three years later and Shyamalan has returned to conclude this long-gestating trilogy -  but was it worth the wait? Following 'The Horde's' (McAvoy) evasion from authorities, David Dunn (Willis) assumes his vigilante persona to give The Horde his comeuppance. During a showdown between the two, they are apprehended by Dr. Ellie Staple (Paulson) and placed in a psychiatric hospital where the maniacal genius Elijah Price a.k.a Mr Glass (Jackson), Dunn's nemesis, is also institutionalised. Within the film's first half an hour, Dunn and Crumb's 24th personality 'The Beast...